The opening arguments in the murder trial for accused cop killer Thomas Kinworthy began today, with both prosecution and defense agreeing that Kinworthy killed St. Louis police officer Tamarris Bohannon. "I'm going to tell you something the defense doesn't normally say in an opening statement," said Kinworthy's public defender, Anne Legomsky. "We admit it.
St. Louis Ward 7 Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier took her advocacy for the unhoused community to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday as the court weighed arguments in Johnson v. Grants Pass. The court must decide whether cities can ban unhoused individuals from sleeping outside even when shelter space is scarce. “The case is considered the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue as record numbers of people are without a permanent place to live in the United States,” the Associated Press reported.
Across Melville Avenue from Blueberry Hill, and directly opposite Fitz’s Root Beer, Umami Seasons Hotpot has joined the Loop throng at 6602 Delmar Boulevard in University City. Umami Seasons serves Taiwanese hot pot, which is an interactive style of Asian dining (primarily Taiwanese and Chinese) where food is cooked at the table in different types of broth. Owner Poyi Liu explains that while the Chinese hot pot experience tends to be larger and noisier, the Taiwanese emphasis is on warmth and intimacy.
A second video has emerged of the dust-up that occurred Friday night at a Perry County GOP event between Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Senator Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg). This video shows Hoskins and Ashcroft outside the event, after an initial confrontation inside in which Hoskins called Ashcroft a "chickenshit" a half-dozen times. Hoskins had previously told the RFT that Ashcroft “barked off” to his wife, but during the initial heat exchange, Ashcroft retorted that whatever he uttered to Hoskins' wife, he said because Hoskins' wife "was just looking at him and I just responded."
Calling all picklers: Maryland Heights is jumping on the pickleball craze with the opening of its new membership, tech-driven pickleball “wellness facility,” Hi Pickle Club (2551 Metro Boulevard, Maryland Heights). At Hi Pickle Club, which is projected to open this fall, picklers can enjoy the eight regulation-sized pickleball courts, players lounges and locker rooms, as well as a cross-training facility operated by HiDow, which offers electrotherapy, recovery, wellness and sports medicine. In the last year, St. Louis has seen pickleball facilities pop up all over the area including Chicken ‘N’ Pickle (1500 South Main Street, St. Charles) and Padel + Pickleball (1220 North Price Road, Olivette).
One hundred percent of the sheriffs in the City of St. Louis agree: the Riverfront Times is an exciting read. That was — more or less — the sentiment Sheriff Vernon Betts expressed at a neighborhood meeting in Bevo Mill Thursday night, where he was one of several elected officials and candidates speaking at a union hall on Delor Street. After his remarks, someone in the audience asked him about recent media coverage of a photo that showed a detainee in Betts' charge lying in his own excrement.
A state senator filmed in two separate videos getting in the face of Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft on Friday night says that he was provoked after Ashcroft “barked off” in the face of his fellow Republican’s wife. Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg) tells the RFT that at Friday night’s Perry County Lincoln Day event, Ashcroft “came up to my wife Michelle who was seated at a table, pointed his finger in her face and barked off to her.” “I was there and confronted Ashcroft in the back of the room and called him a few choice words,” says Hoskins, who is also running for Ashcroft’s current job of Secretary of State (Ashcroft is running for governor).
Former First Lady Michelle Obama was in the St. Louis area in recent days. And not only did she stop by one of our local Target stores, she also left a gift behind at it. Obama uploaded a video to X that shows her looking totally like herself and yet totally incognito, shopping at a suburban St. Louis Target in a sweatshirt and ballcap.
In the past few weeks Washington University has joined a growing number of college campuses nationwide disciplining student protestors advocating for Palestine. Now activists plan to rally against the administration’s response and continue to call for divestment from Boeing. Tomorrow activists will participate in an art build from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and a divestment rally from 1:45 to 3:00 p.m. outside Brookings Hall on Wash U’s Quad.
A 25-year-old man is in custody after a fight outside a McDonald's in north St. Louis County in which a 15-year-old employee had her head slammed into the ground. Police are still seeking information about others involved in the fight. Video of the incident posted on social media allegedly shows Johnny Ricks pulling Aryiah Lynch by her hair in the parking lot and assaulting her multiple times near the drive-thru of the restaurant.
Chris LaBarge caused a minor commotion on the Hill Monday when he pulled up in front of the Digregorio’s Market in his new Tesla Cybertruck. Say what you will about Elon Musk's car company, but there was no shortage of passersby coming up to LaBarge to admire the stainless steel, futuristic-looking electric pickup and ask him questions about it. The Cybertruck weighs about 7,000 pounds and can go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds.
If you walk down Locust Street in Midtown and peer in the window of the old Moon Building you’ll see a colorful display of art pieces. Look closer, though, and you’ll realize they’re all trash. The sculptures were made by Adrienne Outlaw, who addresses plastic pollution through her new exhibit Consumed.
At a hearing yesterday in a lawsuit brought by the former general manager of St. Louis Public Radio, an attorney representing the station put forth a surprising defense: that the local NPR affiliate is unique among the major news outlets in town in that it can't be sued for defamation. Tim Eby's lawsuit is against the University of Missouri Board of Curators, which operates the radio station. He alleges that the station published false statements about him, including that he “chose to uphold white supremacy” and mismanaged the station's finances.
Missouri's first year of (legal) recreational marijuana sales brought record-breaking profits and criminal justice reforms to the state. The state said yes to Amendment 3 legalizing adult recreational use in November 2022, with 53 percent of voters approving. Sales began in December of that year.
As we’re sure you all know, this Saturday is 4/20, and with all the toking that we know you’ll be doing (it’s OK, us too) comes the inevitable munchies. And as every high-as-a-kite consumer of garbage cuisine knows, nothing combats those munchies harder than pizza rolls — except, perhaps, the new soon-to-be stoner staple that is Pizza Roll Pizza. The Headless Bat announced today on Instagram that this Saturday they will be celebrating the High Holiday by offering a one-of-a-kind limited pie topped with pepperoni pizza rolls, sausage, cheese and Cool Ranch Doritos to add that perfect crunch, along with a side of ranch.
An Illinois man who allegedly made threats against a St. Louis judge is now out of jail on bond after almost six weeks in the city jail. After a hearing this morning, Erick Buntyn was allowed out of the City Justice Center so long as he posts $1,000 and submits to GPS monitoring. His defense attorney says that option should have been made available much sooner.
The St. Louis jail has found yet another way to interfere with the work of attorneys who have clients locked up inside. The latest policy implemented by administrators at the City Justice Center is one that lawyers say unnecessarily complicates their efforts to deliver legal documents to clients inside the troubled facility. It concerns the “paper pass,” a narrow opening in the booths where attorneys speak to clients through glass.
Though it is one of the smaller professional companies in town, Upstream Theater has earned a reputation for producing intimate, well-acted dramas that are both highly entertaining and deeply thought provoking. The U.S. premiere of Don’t Wait for the Marlboro Man, written by Olivier Garofalo and translated and directed by Philip Boehm, is another captivating production from the company. Sarah, a successful and busy professional working on an important project, is impatiently sitting in a hospital waiting area, her attention equally divided between her cell phone and the operating room nearby.
After meeting some initial pushback, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones has signed a law streamlining the liquor license process for restaurateurs and brewpub owners. Board Bill 60, sponsored by 4th Ward Alderman Bret Narayan and co-sponsored by Aldermanic President Megan Green and 6th Ward Alderwoman Daniela Velazquez, was signed into law by Jones on Tuesday.
Of course, the rose latte. And of course, the rose kunefe. I mean, what could possibly be wrong with that drink, and that utterly divine snack scattered with petals?
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